Moving on
by MysticFantasy
Summary: Steve is found three years after crashing the Hydra plane and now continues his life in the 40's and through the years while facing difficult challenges and meeting new people.
1. Chapter 1

**Moving on**

**By: MysticFantasy**

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Disclaimer: (_I own no part of this movie or the characters in it._)

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"Stark, please tell me why you've dragged all of us to your lab." Colonel Chester Phillips demanded.

"Believe me, you'll understand when we get to the med room." Howard Stark declared excitedly as he led the small group down the hall.

Following at his heels were Colonel Phillips, Tim Dugan, James Montgomery Falsworth, Gabe Jones, Jim Morita, Jacques Fernier and a now married and six month pregnant Peggy Carter Flynn.

"Can we at least know why we are here?" Falsworth asked.

"It concerns what happened to our beloved super soldier captain three years ago." Howard answered. This right away brought up memories for everyone.

Three years ago, the war ended and the fall of Hydra had occured. All in thanks to Captain Steven Grant Rogers who sacrificed himself by going down with the large Hydra plane.

For three years, the country has mourned the death of the soldier who helped turn the war around and save the lives of countless people.

Howard Stark himself had been leading a team to try to locate the spot where the Hydra plane crashed and hasn't been able to find anything yet.

"We found him." Howard declared as they came to a large window.

The small group gathered in front of the window and what they saw both shocked and surprised them.

A team of four scientists and doctors were huddled around a figure that was slowly thawing out from what was most likely his icy tomb. Large pieces of the ice had been chipped away or fallen off on their own and were now on the floor slowly melting.

Since most of the ice had been removed, the group was able to see the pale and frozen face of Steve Rogers.

Peggy tried to keep herself from crying at the sight of the man she loved. A hand went down to lightly rub her round stomach. A child she and her husband are waiting for. A child that she wished she could have had with Steve had he returned.

Only one year and a half after the war ended, she began to try to heal her heart. She began dating a man who was also serving in the military. A man named Gilbert Flynn. He had understood her pain and together they became serious enough that they wanted to marry and have a child.

Both agreed that if the child was a boy, he would named after the super soldier who saved the world.

"Where was he?" Phillips asked softly as he gazed at the sight of the soldier who had proved him wrong in so many things.

"In the Arctic Circle." Howard answered. "That's why it was so hard to find him all this time. The climate there is so harsh. Plane was almost completely buried when we found it."

"How long until he's fully thawed out?" the colonel asked.

"Maybe two hours." Howard answered.

"I'll have preperations made for a proper funeral."

"That won't be nessessary, sir." Howard stated, causing everyone to look at him.

"Why is that?" Falsworth asked.

"Because he's not dead." Howard answered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**By: MysticFantasy**

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Four days later, Peggy found herself in the medical building on base looking at the sleeping figure of Steve Rogers.

The super soldier was indeed alive, much to everyone's surprise. Somehow he had survived being trapped in ice for three years.

He was now competely free from the ice, was warming up and being closely monitored by doctor's and scientists as they all waited for him to wake up.

"Time and time again, he will always find a way to surprise me." Phillips said as he stood next to Peggy. "I'm beginning to think that he enjoys surprising me."

The brunette woman lightly smiled. She felt that way at times too. Steve was always surprising people even before he became the famous super soldier.

"How are you holding up?" the older man asked.

"Fairly well, sir." Peggy answered.

"None of this is causing you any stress, is it?"

"No, sir. None at all."

"Good. I might need you around when Rogers finally wakes up. No doubt it'll be a surprise to him that he survived being frozen in ice and how long it's been. He's going to need familiar faces around."

"I believe he will handle it well, sir. Not too much time has gone by since the crash. I just think that the small culture shock will confuse him a little."

"That won't be the only thing." Phillips said motioning to her round stomach.

Peggy silently agreed. She knew very well that Steve might want to pick things up where the two left off. The date they had planned when he'd been heading straight into the ice and water they were all sure that took his life.

What if he wanted to try to reconnect with her? Would it upset him to see that she was already married and expecting a child?

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Two weeks later, Chester Phillips was busy looking over reports in his office. Wishing that he had something better to do than the boring paperwork.

His prayer seemed to be answered when the door suddenly flew open and an excited Howard Stark appeared.

"Colonel. Sir! He's awake!"

"What?" Phillips exclaimed.

"Rogers! He's awake!"

The colonel wasted no more time. He quickly put his uniform jacket and hat on and quickly followed Howard toward the room where their commrade was.

Arriving, both a little out of breath, the two went to the window and spotted Steve Rogers sitting against in his elevated bed. He looked drowzy and a little confused as a therapist spoke with him.

"Colonel Phillips. Glad you're here, sir." a doctor said with a smile.

"When did he wake up?" the colonel asked.

"Just about an hour ago." Dr. Thomas answered. "He right away asked how he got here from the plane and if the war was still continueing. Dr. Moore is explaining everything that happened."

"Does he have any kind of brain damage?" Howard asked.

"Actually, his scans and tests all came back normally. He's as top notch as he was when he first became Captain America."

"You mean to tell me that he was trapped in ice with no food, water or even _air_ and he has no kind of damage whatsoever?" Phillips asked.

"The's right, colonel." Dr. Thomas answered. "We can only assume that Dr. Erskine's formula is the reason that Captain Rogers is still alive and does not have any kind damage to his physical and mental being. Naturally, accepting that the war and his crash happened three years ago is going to be a little hard to accept and may take a little time but I believe that he will have no trouble psychologically as well."

"How long should he have time to accept all of this?" Howard asked.

"I personally reccomend that Captain Rogers has whatever time he needs. A situation like the one he went through has never happened before and he's going to need all the time he feels he needs to overcome things. If he says he's ready to return to the Army, then I would like to have a session with him beforehand to make sure that there are no further problems."

"Thank you, doctor. Are we able to speak with him?"

"Yes, sir. He may still be a little confused and tired though." Dr. Thomas answered as he showed the two over to the door.

"We'll try not to wear him out." Howard vowed before they entered the room right as the second doctor finished speaking.

Steve looked over to the door and spotted two familiar faces.

"Hey pal." Howard greeted as casually as he could. "How you feeling?"

"Like I crashed a plane." Steve answered as the two doctor's left the room. "Tell me something and be honest."

"What's that?"

"Is what that doctor said true? Did I really stay under for three years?" Steve asked as he sat up.

"It's true." Phillips answered bluntly. "That day you went after Schmidt was the last time any of us saw you. It was just a few weeks ago that you were found and discovered to still be alive."

Steve sighed as he looked downward.

"You saved the world that day, Steve." Howard said. "If you hadn't stopped Schmidt, none of us would be here today. The world was in mourning when we thought you went down with that plane. But now we can all be happy because you're back."

"Granted, we're going to give you all the time you need to recover and get your head cleared." Phillips added. "This is a very unique situation and we want to make sure that you're alright."

"Would I be able to rejoin, sir?" Steve asked.

"You may. Hell, we would be seriously honored to have you back in the army this very moment. But right now, you need time to recover from this whole ordeal. Take all of the time that you think you need, Rogers. Get caught up with things. Not much has changed in three years but there are a few things that are new."

"Yes, sir." Steve agreed.

"Hey, you hungry?" Howard asked. "I'm gonna go call someone and have a big lunch brought to you."

Before Steve could protest, the inventor rushed off and out of the room.

"Consider yourself lucky. He never offers me a lunch like that." Phillips said with a smile. "Glad to have you back Rogers. Things weren't right without you here."

"Thank you, colonel. I'm glad you're still around too."

"Of course. It's going to take more than old age to keep me away." The colonel said with a smile before excusing himself from the room.

_Well, glad to know that some things are still the same._ Steve thought as he laid back and relaxed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**By: MysticFantasy**

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While absentmindedly eatting an apple, Steve looked out the window of his room. He was still in the medical bay and would be until the doctor's and Colonel Phillips felt he was ready to be released.

Which Steve believed would be another week or two. Although he couldn't blame them for wanting to make sure that he was fine.

Every other day he was taking tests and everything kept coming back that he was perfectly normal. At least he didn't have to put up with it for much longer.

Plus, his friends coming to visit him made it easier. Steve had been so thrilled to see his teammates again. They had too since they all almost started crying when they saw for themselves that he really was alive.

The only person he hadn't seen yet was Peggy and no one would ever answer his questions of where she was or why she wouldn't come see him.

"Hey buddy."

Steve turned and smiled when he saw Howard enter the room followed by someone wheeling in a cart holding lunch.

That was something else that made all of this a little easier. Howard kept his word on providing good meals to the soldier in order for him to recover better. Often times, Howard would have meals with Steve as they talked about things that had happened over the years Steve had been gone.

The cook left the room and shut the door behind him.

"I should have figured you'd be eatting." Howard said with a smirk. "I would kill to have a metabolism like yours."

"It gets annoying at times." Steve said as he tossed the apple core into the trash can. "Feels like I'm always hungry."

"Guess that's the one bad side about being a super soldier." Howard said. "Eat up. I brought lobster today."

"How in world did you get that?" Steve questioned when his friend lifted the tray cover to reveal a red lobster.

"Steve, this is Howard Stark you're talking to. I have my ways." Howard said with a smirk.

"Guess so." Steve agreed as they sat at the table and began to eat.

"So, some good news. You may be released at the end of the week." Howard said as he cracked open the shell.

"Great. I can't stand being cooped up in here much longer." Steve exclaimed.

"But you're still going to need some time before they let you back into active duty."

"Why? I'm fine. My tests say so, I say so...I should be able to go back into the service."

"Steve, we all think that you may need a little more time to realize that three years have gone by and everyone thought you were dead. The press is going to want an interview with you. They want to know where you've been, why we 'let' everyone think you were dead and such. Phillips is leaving it up to you if you want to tell everyone the truth or make something up. He just doesn't want anyone to try freezing themselves in order to see if it'll make them live longer."

"I don't like lying but that is a good point. Maybe I should just say that I had to make Hydra believe that I was dead while I finished destroying the rest of their factories and taking out as many of their agents as possible."

"That's a good and believable story. Go with it." Howard said. "I knew that time of being on stage would let you think of some creative things."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**By: MysticFantasy**

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"Rogers, get back in that bed. You have one day left. You can tough it out." Phillips ordered.

"Yes, sir." Steve said as he climbed back into the hospital bed. He was tired of being in the bed but he was relieved that he only had one more day until he was medically released. But that only meant that he was only halfway through returning to the army.

After he was released medically, he still had to take 'vacation' time. He had planned on taking two weeks off but Colonel Phillips heard about it and stretched the time to a full month. After that, the army would warmly welcome Steve back to the service.

Around the same time, Steve and Howard would have a press confrence to announce that Captain America is alive and well.

The captain and inventor had been spending the past two weeks perfecting the story they would give to the press about why Steve hadn't been around.

Steve was sure that the public would doubt it was really him at first but he would do his best to win their trust all over again. He just hoped it wouldn't be as hard as the first time.

Too many people had doubted him and what he could do until they learned and saw for themselves that he was the real thing.

"Enjoy the time to relax and not worry about anything coming up." Phillips said. "With the war over, we can focus on making the army stronger and getting other countries to become our allies. Once they learn that you're back in the game, I think they won't hesitate to be on our side. After seeing what you did to Hydra, no one will want to be on America's bad side. Congratulations Rogers, you're America's greatest asset."

"Glad to help." Steve said.

"If all goes well, we'd like for you to be present at the treaty signings." the colonel added.

"It would be an honor, sir. Not to sound impatient or anything, but when is the doctor going to give me my physical?"

"He'll be here around two thirty. Just wait it out a little longer, soldier."

"I will."

Phillips smiled at the man who had proved him wrong on many occasions.

"Stark said he'd come by to keep you company as soon as he was done with one of his new toys. Should be here soon."

"Sir, if I may ask, why hasn't Agent Carter come to visit me yet?" Steve asked.

"She's...been busy. She's got a lot of things on her mind right now but she's has been telling us that she's going to come see you soon. I thought she would have by now."

"Is there something that Agent Carter is hiding?" Steve asked.

Phillips looked at the soldier who was waiting for an answer.

"A few things happened during the time you were gone. You should hear it from Agent Carter herself."

Steve nodded.

Every day that Howard came, Steve asked where Peggy was. Every time, Howard would say that Peggy was doing something important that was taking up most of her time.

Steve was slowly getting impatient that he hadn't seen Peggy yet. After realizing what happened after he woke up, Steve had right away wanted to see Peggy.

Howard had told the captain that Peggy had been very upset when they all believed that he had died in the crash and that they may never find his body.

Everyone had been upset but, to Steve's understanding, Peggy had been the most upset. This made Steve wonder why she hasn't come to see him yet. Why was she staying away?

Did she not want to see him? Was she mad that he made everyone believe that he was dead after crashing the plane?

He wouldn't be upset if she was mad and he was actually surprised the others weren't upset. He figured that maybe it was because they were relieved to see that he had survived a crash and being frozen for three years.

Even he was still trying to get over it.

"I better get going. The general wants to be kept up to date on your recovery." Phillips said. "Hang in there, Rogers. Won't be long until you're back with the rest of us."

"Yes, sir." Steve said with a smile.

The moment the colonel was out of the room, Steve stood from his bed. He hated not doing anything. He had to do nothing his entire childhood and teenage years because of his poor health.

When he had finally gotten cured of it all when he got the serum, he had never felt so alive. Being able to run, climb, fight...He felt like he had been born all over again and began to live a life he never believed he could have.

_Knock, knock._

Steve quickly dashed back to the bed before letting the guest enter. He nearly jump for joy when he saw the army doctor enter.

"Hello Captain Rogers. Hope you're doing well." Dr. Morison said.

"Doing very well. Ready to get back to work too." Steve replied.

"I'm sure you are, captain. But Colonel Phillips has informed me not to let you return to active duty for another month."

Steve lightly pouted. He had been hoping to get the doctor to let him return to the army in at least two weeks. But it seemed the wise colonel was a step ahead.

"I know you're ready to go back to what you do best, Captain Rogers, but you still need a little more time."

"I understand." Steve said.

"Good. Then let's go ahead and get your physical done. The sooner we can get it done, the sooner you can be done with your vacation."

"That sounds great." Steve said.

"Good. Go ahead and stand up."

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Steve smiled as he walked up to his apartment door. The same apartment he'd had before leaving to the army had been saved in hopes of one day making it a tourist spot.

'The apartment Captain America lived in.'

Steve admitted that he wasn't sure if people were willing to pay to see the inside of his apartment from the front door.

Opening the front foor, Steve walked inside and right away noticed that the furniture and appliances were brand new and everything was spotless.

He should have figured that someone would want him to come back to a clean and cozy home.

Shutting the door, the captain placed a small duffle bag on the floor and removed his brown jacket. After putting it in the small hall closet, Steve began to put away the few things he had in his duffle bag.

Later during the week Howard would be taking him to pick up more clothes. The inventor was claiming that since Steve was back, the super soldier would need to update his clothes.

Steve wasn't really sure how to handle the news that Howard was going to take him to his favorite places to pick out clothes.

But for now, Steve actually wanted to rest for a while. He had spent the whole day signing papers, receiving warm welcome's and trying to find Peggy.

Not once had he spotted the woman who had secretly won his heart. He wondered if she knew how badly he wanted to see her. To let her know that he was ok and that they could finally have that dance they planned.

Steve was really beginning to wonder if Peggy really is angry at him and trying to avoid him at all costs.

Just as Steve put the last of his things away, he heard knocking from the front door. He quickly made his way to the door and looked through the peephole.

He instantly smiled when he saw the face of the woman he had been trying to find since he first woke up.

Quickly, he opened the door and was now face to face with Peggy.

"Hello Steve." she greeted with a small smile.

"Peggy." Steve greeted in return and embraced her. The feeling of her finally being in his arms was cut short when he noticed something.

Pulling back, he right away spotted what that something was and looked to Peggy.

"May I come in? There's obviously quite a bit about myself that I need to inform you of."


End file.
